Thursday, May 03, 2007

A Piece of Cake

Dressed in a dark suit and tie, Sarkozy repeated his promise to cut the number of public employees -- prompting accusations from Royal that he would endanger health, education and the police.

He said he would ensure full employment in France in five years by "freeing the forces of labour", and said the 35-hour week -- introduced by the last socialist government -- was killing employment. France currently has one of the highest unemployment rates in western Europe.

"She (Royal) still thinks that you have to share out the work like pieces of a cake. Not a single country in the world accepts this logic, which is a monumental mistake," he said.

Royal, wearing a black jacket and white blouse, countered with a promise to create 500,000 youth jobs, funded from existing training and unemployment budgets. She questioned Sarkozy's citation of an economic think-tank that said his programme would benefit the economy more than Royal's.

This prompted Sarkozy to ask: "Why do you treat anyone who is not of your opinion with irony, even with contempt?".